Jennifer and I are going to enjoy a “Christmas date” together this week by going down to Birmingham to catch the Ten Out of Tenn tour which features 10 song writers from the state of Tennessee. I am excited about this concert for a number of reasons. First because it provides an opportunity for my beautiful wife and I to have a night out together and secondly because it will be my first singer/songwriter show in quite some time. Though I am not familiar with all the song writers featured in Ten Out of Tenn, the ones I am familiar with I find to be excellent song writers. So in light of my going to Tenn Out of Tenn, I thought I would introduce you to some of the artists that will be featured there. Some of which are Christian singer/songwriters like Matthew Perryman Jones (of Indelible Grace).

Matthew Perryman Jones – Save You (he has a new album out and his first one you can download for free simply by recommending it to friends at noisetrade; also if you have never checked out Indelible Grace–do it now!).

Both of these guys write from a Christian Worldview and both are excellent song writers:

One of my absolute favorite song writers is Bill Mallonee. Bill Mallonee is the former front man and song writer for the alt country band, Vigilantes of Love. Mallonee now writes a mix of folk, americana, and rock music. He puts out new music at an astonishing rate on his website. Paste named him #65 in their list of the 100 greatest living songwriters. Interestingly enough, when I saw him in Louisville, it was at a little coffee shop with a crowd of about 30-40 people, much like these clips of him playing at a library. He doesn’t mind playing small shows and his music is absolutely beautiful in a small setting! These are two of my favorite Mallonee songs, I couldn’t decide which one, so I will give you them both!

Bill Mallonee – Nothing Like a Train

Bill Mallonee – Solar System

Denison Witmer has played in Sufjan Stevens band, but is a folk-force to be reckoned with himself. His album, Are You a Dreamer? is one of my all-time-favorites (Sufjan plays the banjo on a couple tracks)! In this video, Whitmer tells the amusing story behind one of my favorite songs and then plays the song unplugged.